HIGH SCHOOL ICE HOCKEY: Three intriguing matchups highlight CVC slate

While the preps have taken center stage of late, the lull is finally over in the Colonial Valley Conference.

The final segment of the regular season begins Wednesday afternoon when West Windsor-Plainsboro South takes on Hopewell Valley at 4 p.m.

One of the bigger games of the season will follows when WW-P North and Robbinsville meet for the top spot in the Colonial Division at 6 p.m.

The nightcap is pretty impressive, too. That has the CVC’s most improved team, Lawrence, looking to slow down Notre Dame.

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Let’s take a look at the three intriguing match-ups.

WW-P North (10-4-2, 8-1 CVC) – Robbinsville (8-4-1, 7-1 CVC)

The Knights are 3-1-1 in their last five and have not lost in January. The last loss came to Lawrence in the finals of the Hamilton Holiday Tournament. Since then, they are averaging 5.2 goals per game.

Robbinsville has ventured from the CVC of late and has a 1-3-1 mark in its last five. The three losses have come to Chatham (6-6-2), Bridgewater-Raritan (11-2-2) and CVC- power Notre Dame (14-0-1).

Bridgewater-Raritan eliminated the Ravens from the state tourney last year.

“I knew we’d be the underdogs in those games,” said Robbinsville coach Dan Bergan. “But the wins and losses were of no importance to the plan. We needed to take a step to try and be comfortable playing the game at a faster pace.”

The Ravens, who continue to get solid play from Eric Hildebrand, Dan Cox and Coleman Anker, lost those three games by a total of five goals.

“They are deeper than us and they have an excellent goalie,” said Weiss of the Ravens and goalie Kellen Anker. “We have to score as we have been the last two games. We have to stay out of the box and get our goalie to have a great game.”

David Zohn has been giving the Knights some great games in the goal and has been aided by the overall play of Charles Singerhouse and the lethal stick of Matt Strober.

“Coach Weiss does an excellent job of piecing together the talent that he has and always gives us a tough game,” said Bergan, of North. “The addition of Singerhouse changes the dynamic of the that team. We look forward to the challenge of defending our Colonial Division title.”

The second meeting of the two is set for a week from Wednesday, but this one will set the tone.

WW-P South (4-6-1, 4-5 CVC) – Hopewell Valley (4-9, 4-5 CVC)

This is a game that will have more to do with qualifying for the state tournament than making a run at a division title.

South has won just once in the last seven games and has not won since Dec. 20. Only some of that burden falls on the Pirates. The schedule maker has handed them the conference’s best of late.

“That’s not an excuse,” said South coach Laurent Lassance. “We had our chances to win against Wall, North and Princeton. We need to do a better job of putting together three strong periods of hockey and not getting ourselves in a hole by starting slow.”

The Bulldogs have pretty much been in the same bind. They have won just once in the last nine games. Hopewell has amped up its non-conference schedule this season with the likes of Kinnelon, Bridgewater-Raritan and Montgomery.

This is a young Hopewell team, and its problem has been finishing. It averaged just 1.8 goals per game over that nine-game stretch.

“This is a game that both teams need to win,” said Lassance. “We both need the winm and it will be intense.”

Just the way to get a stretch run started.

Lawrence (7-4-1, 3-4-1 CVC) – Notre Dame (14-0-1, 10-0 CVC)

One of the things that makes this game so interesting is that the Cardinals have not played in 14 days and ND is coming off a stunning come-from-behind 3-3 tie with Pennington

Will Lawrence be rusty? Will the Irish be able to get back their swagger?

“It’s obviously not ideal to have been off for this long and come back with two important games,” said John Ritchie, the Lawrence coach and a top candidate for Coach of the Year. “But we’ve added some extra ice time. It also gave us some time to reflect and work on strategy.”

When the Cardinals, who are unbeaten in the last seven games, reflect, they will see great senior leadership from Ross Doerler, Pat Kelly and Corey Zrinko, along with emergence of Travis Pelke as one of the premier goalies around.

The Irish, who had several players miss the Pennington game, will be looking to put that one in the rear-view mirror.

Lawrence’s play should make the night’s final game an interesting one.

Pennington Growing Up

The last time I saw Pennington (2-5-1) it was in early December, and the first thing you noticed was that the roster was dominated by freshmen.

After they dropped their first five games they are 2-0-1 over the last three, including the tie with powerful Notre Dame.

“They have taken pride in winning puck battles and we have played excellent in our end,” said Red Raiders coach Ryan Bailey. “Our young D core is adjusting to the pace and competing hard. They are also keeping it simple.”

One thing that has not been simple for the opposition has been getting it past freshman goalie Wyatt Kop’kash.

Against the Irish, Bailey credited a five-man unit that took pride in defense first and the goaltending of Kop’kash.

The Red Raiders will need another good effort Friday when they face Independence League foe and neighbor Hun.

Sorry, Daniel Kingsley

When the Unsung Player team was released last week we listed Daniel Kingsley as Darryl. We apologize.

Daniel has been a four-year performer for the Tigers and he deserves to have his name properly reprinted.

Daniel Kingsley (Princeton) – Over the last four years, Kingsley has been the ultimate team player. No matter what the situation, when he is called on he is ready, willing and able to handle the task. His positive attitude and work ethic are an example for the other players. He is a player – and leader – every coach would love to have on the roster.